CONNECT people to Christ and POUR into their lives His teaching so they'll OVERFLOW for the glory of God

Posts from July 2010

I Asked Believing But Didn’t Receive

As I meditated on the life of Joseph this past week found in the book of Genesis, I began to wonder about Joseph’s prayer life.  I mean, Joseph was a man of God, right?  Didn’t Joseph ever pray in the midst of his calamities?  In the pit, surely Joseph earnestly prayed to God that he would be restored back to his father’s…

Why Do Bad Things Happen?

Bad things happen.  The reality of calamity isn’t news to anybody.  Just live long enough and you’ll know it firsthand.  But the “why” question is usually what’s burning on everybody’s heart. Do you ever wonder why bad things happen?  I’m not talking about the immediate cause, like the accelerator sticking on a Toyota Camry.  I’m talking about ultimate cause. Now, the atheist…

Lessons Learned from a Decade of Youth Ministry (1999-2008)

From the year 1999 to 2008, I had the high privilege of having youth ministry as my primary ministry.  That’s an entire decade!  Now, I know that some of you reading this will say that a decade’s nothing because you’ve been doing youth ministry for 30 years.  You’re welcome to point that out, but remember:  you risk telling how old you are!    😉    Nevertheless, during…

Inherit the Earth

Some of the most beloved teaching from the Scripture is found in the first 12 verses of Matthew 5, which are commonly called the Beatitudes.  These Kingdom proclamations, straight from the mouth of Jesus, are so powerful primarily because of the paradox contained in them.  Paradox is something that seems to go against common experience or common sense.  Jesus is taking the…